NeighborhoodX

Just before the new year, listings went live for NYC’s first micro apartment complex Carmel Place (aka My Micro NY aka 335 East 27th Street) in anticipation of its opening in March. The nine-story modular development in Kips Bay has 55 studios that are 260 to 360 square feet. Of these, 22 are affordable (more than 60,000 people applied for them), and they’ll go from $950 to $1,500 a month depending on size and income.

The remaining market-rate units will range from $2,500 to $2,900 per month, which has left many skeptics questioning why anyone would fork over nearly three grand for a space that is far smaller than conventional studios. To put this argument into an actual visualization, the data gurus over at NeighborhoodX created a simple, yet informative graph that compares the rental price per square foot at Carmel Place with that of regular studios across the city (h/t Curbed).

We’re hearing lots of anguish and anxiety over the possibility of an L subway shutdown for repairs for as long as a year or more, and we’ve taken a look at some possible solutions. Now, we’ve asked the real estate data geeks at NeighborhoodX to go a little deeper beneath the grumbling to find out just how much convenience can be had along that thin grey line, and how it stacks up against other neighborhoods in Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens.

So which other neighborhoods offer commute times similar to the L train stops—and—just as important when choosing a neighborhood–how do their rents compare? And if you’re living along the L, in light of the shutdown, what neighborhood alternatives do you have in the city that provide a similar commute?

You may have heard of Lorem ipsum, the placeholder text commonly used in design and publishing, but have you heard of Broker ipsum? The new tool, a brokerbabble generator, comes from NeighborhoodX and pokes fun at the sometimes rambling jargon used in real estate listings. Simply tell Broker ipsum how many paragraphs you need and you’ll get a mashup of common listing terms and Latin words such as “Stunning views commodo ligula eget dolor” or “Classic 6 quam felis, ultricies nec, pellentesque one-of-a-kind, pretium quis, sem.”

When most of us rationalize our outrageous rents (and for buyers, real estate prices), our first go-to argument usually involves something along the lines of how great it is to live so close to work and the bustling city. But as it turns out, there are actually more than a handful of neighborhoods outside of the borders of Manhattan that boast way better commute times than even Brooklyn. Real estate data start-up NeighborhoodX is back again with yet another eye-opening visualization, this time pitting the commute times and real estate prices of various New Jersey, New York and Connecticut suburbs, and a few popular Queens and Brooklyn nabes, against one another.

With real estate prices soaring so high and so quickly, a lot of us are questioning if we even want to live in New York anymore—not to mention if we can. Well, for those of you who find yourself saying “I’d leave, but I’m just not sure where I’d go,” look to NeighborhoodX‘s latest creation, the “F- -k it” map, for some inspiration. You might be surprised (if not depressed) to find out that the price paid for a Bed-Stuy or Harlem apartment could also get you pretty sweet pad in the South of France or even trendy Paris.

We all have a pretty good idea which NYC neighborhoods command top dollar, but this incredible 3D map from NeighborhoodX really puts things into perspective by pinning the city’s 325 neighborhoods against one another in a visually jarring side-by-side comparison. Among the most expensive? For Brooklyn, Gravesend beats out our best guess of DUMBO/Brooklyn Heights with its enclave of multi-million dollar, over-the-top mansions; and in Manhattan, Billionaires’ Row rises as a whole other beast with prices soaring as high as its supertalls.